Red Ribbon
by Josephine Sawyer
Summary: A nervous Lily's first encounter with Hogwarts and James Potter makes her question her views on morality. "Some families are better than others."


**Disclaimer:** This story includes characters and situations that are part of the Harry Potter universe, which is copyright J.K.Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, Bloomsbury, etc. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made in the production of this FANFICTION.

**Author's Note:** A bit of a break from my usual work, this came to me recently, I'm not altogether sure how, but the point of the matter is that I came out with my own interpretation of what could possibly have made Lily hate James so much while not giving her a crush on Severus or something odd like that. This is intended as a one shot, but it ends in such a way that it almost makes me want to continue it. What do you think? Please review and (most importantly) enjoy!

**Chivalry**

****

The Hogwarts Express sliced through the countryside, a red ribbon on green earth, and Lily Evans looked out the window in awe. The other first years in her cabin thought her strange, surely. They were both wizard children, used to life like this. She had traded names with them and promptly ignored them – Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. She didn't expect to ever see them again in her time at Hogwarts.

Her parents had said goodbye to her outside the barrier between platforms nine and ten, as they couldn't cross over to platform nine and three quarters. So they had left her, or she had left them, there, in tears. Everyone was crying, except Petunia, who had turned stony cold to Lily ever since her Hogwarts letter had come.

Lily sighed. Really, it couldn't be described better except to say that she was leaving them. She was falling off of their world, and into another. A month ago she would have been the first person to say that magic didn't exist, and now she was off on a fool's journey to try and become a witch. She was falling off the world – into something else, into fantasy. Her friends were normal kids – muggle kids – preparing for entry to normal, muggle, secondary schools, and Lily Evans had become, as Petunia so aptly put it, a freak going to a freak school. She wondered if her friends would worry when she didn't appear in class at secondary school. She wondered if she really had any friends any more, or if she would come December when she could come home for the Christmas holiday. A month ago she knew she had friends, family, a life. What did she have now?

Nothing.

"Lily?" asked Remus. "What house do you want to be sorted into? I'd die if I wasn't put in Gryffindor, myself." Then, after a pause, "But I think I'll be sorted into Slytherin."

Lily had never heard of Gryffindor or Slytherin before. "Houses?" she asked, frantic. "What do you mean? Does everyone have a house?"

Remus laughed. "Of course everyone has a house – and they're Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. I can't believe you've forgotten," he began quickly, but then realization dawned on him. "You're muggle-born, aren't you?"

"What's muggle-born?" Lily asked in response.

"If your parents are muggles, you're muggle-born."

"Oh. Then yes, I am muggle-born," Lily answered, trying to be proud of it. It sounded vaguely mutated, as though she were saying her parents were hunchbacks or she had a fatal disease.

"You'll be in Hufflepuff then," Peter said decisively.

"Why's that?" asked Lily.

"My brother told me – all the muggle-born kids are sorted to Hufflepuff."

"Oh," answered Lily again, and the conversation ended. She turned back to the window. She must have fallen asleep, because she woke up to an entirely different landscape outside and Remus poking her arm.

"You should change," he commented, and she nodded mutely, grabbing her uniform and running to the loo to change. Remus had already changed and was wearing a threadbare robe and old uniform.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the train pulled to a stop and a man bigger than Lily had ever seen before loaded the first years into boats. Shivering in cold, Lily huddled in the boat she shared with Remus, Peter, and two other boys. She was only glad she didn't fall into the water.

As the boats slowly proceeded across the lake, Lily caught her first glimpse of Hogwarts. Her mouth hung wide open and she was transfixed. "Lily," came a whisper. "Lily, wake up. It's just a castle," Remus was hissing into her ear. She snapped out of her gaping trance and shot a grateful glance toward Remus. Maybe she did have friends. Although, if she were destined for Hufflepuff and he wished to go into Gryffindor, maybe this friendship wouldn't be as strong as she could have hoped for. She sighed, not registering the snickers of the two unknown boys in the boat, only remarking on it when Remus muttered, "Slytherins, probably. A nasty lot."

Lily looked worried. He had said he was probably going to be sorted to Slytherin. How could he hate them so much without even knowing them?

Inside the castle they were escorted down a grand hallway and up a flight of stairs to a huge, closed wooden door, where their inhumanly large guide left them. Lily stood still for a moment, too scared to do anything, but a conversation going on behind her caught her attention and she listened in. Usually Lily didn't eavesdrop, but she had nothing better to do just then.

"Black, isn't it?" asked a boy with sloppily cut and messy black hair. "You know, you're not as far gone as Snape here. Your hair isn't so oily. What do they do to you at home, Snape, forbid you from bathing?" the boy snickered cruelly and Lily took a step toward him, angry. No one had a right to insult someone like that, unprovoked.

"Get your blood-traitor face away, Potter. You make both of us sick," one of the snickering boys from the boat replied, indicating the other – the one with less oily hair. Lily had to admit, Snape's hair could use a washing. But that was no excuse to insult him like that. The third, presumably Black, looked conflicted, caught between a rock and a hard place.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Black," said the boy named Potter. "You can redeem yourself. Change who you consort with for a start. Some families are just better than others. I can show you who to hang out with."

Potter looked overconfident, a smug grin on his face that made Lily boil. Snape glared at him, daring him to continue, but Potter was focusing entirely on Black. Finally, he made his decision. "Especially with regards to hygiene. When's the last time you took a bath, Sevvie," he spat, turning to his former friend.

The look of pain on Snape's face was too much for Lily to bear. She snapped. "Potter, you're awful, you know that? I can't believe you – you have absolutely no right!" She took them all by surprise, and Potter looked the most shocked.

Black must have recognized her from the boat, because he spoke. "You're Muggle- born, don't talk about things you don't know. We'll be sure to consult you about how to do things the hard way."

Snape had shifted his glare, meanwhile, from Potter to her. She might have been prepared for a comeback from Potter or even Black, so the previous comment hadn't touched her, but she turned in shock when Snape began to speak. "I don't need your pity," he spat, adding, "filthy Mudblood."

Lily had never heard the name before, but judging by the way it was said and the amazed expressions of everyone nearby, it was a low-down, nasty thing to call someone. Potter spoke up, or rather, pulled out his wand rapidly and threatened Snape with it. "Don't you ever call her names again, Snape," he growled, turning to Lily. "You don't understand, we're the good guys – he's the horrible one," he said, almost pleading.

Her rage at Snape, however, did only a little to undermine her hatred for Potter. "You still started it," she answered softly and turned away from him to face the Professor who had appeared, a bit harried.

"Hello and welcome to Hogwarts," she said, slightly nervous. The woman looked in her mid forties, although she was quite possibly older than that. She bore herself in the epitome of a professional manner, but didn't appear quite used to this duty. "Welcome to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, deputy Headmistress of the school and Transfiguration professor. I will have all of you in class throughout the year." She paused here, emphasizing something – who knew what – with a stern glance.

"You are about to be sorted into houses. In Hogwarts, there are four houses – Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. These houses will become your families throughout your years here, and they are chosen based on where you will be able to make the most lasting friends. No one that I know of has ever been mis- sorted, so there's no reason to worry on that count." She took a short break for breath and Lily hoped fervently she wouldn't be sorted into a house with Snape, Potter, or Black. "With that, once again, welcome to Hogwarts."

She pushed open the heavy wooden door, revealing the amazing dining hall behind it. Lily gasped at the sight and her eyes caught hold of the ceiling, showing a clear night sky exactly like the one outside. "It's enchanted to look like the sky," she heard someone whisper. "I've heard that if you stare at it long enough you go mad," the speaker added with a touch more relish. Lily quickly pulled her eyes away.

A ragged old hat was brought out on a stool and Professor McGonagall stood over it while it sang a song – but Lily was to busy building up her confidence and trying to ignore the waves of anger that wracked her every time she looked at Potter or Black. She hoped dearly she wouldn't be in the same house. Finally, the hat was done, and McGonagall picked up a parchment to read names. "When I call your name, step forward and place the hat on your head," she called. "Sarah Abbot."

A timid girl stepped forward and pulled the hat past her eyes. It wasn't long before she was sorted into Hufflepuff. Lily wondered if she was Muggle-born. She began eyeing the Hufflepuff table, but she couldn't tell a thing.

Soon, "Sirius Black" was called to the seat and he proudly walked forward and unceremoniously pulled the hat onto his head. The hat deliberated for a long while, finally settling upon Gryffindor.

Lily glanced at the Gryffindor table. The people there were more cheerful, more active than the quieter Hufflepuffs. Wasn't Gryffindor the house for bravery and chivalry? She found it hard to believe that Sirius Black, who had just so easily betrayed his friend, would be sorted into a house devoted to chivalry. But she didn't have too long to think about it before her own name was called and her legs moved of their own volition towards the seat.

Trembling, she pulled the hat on over her head. "Calm down there!" chirped a voice in her ear that she was sure only she could hear. "Oh my, so many conflicting emotions." The hat laughed. It seemed to Lily that this was an inappropriate thing to do, but she wasn't sure what to tell the hat. "Why are you so sure you'll be put in Hufflepuff?"

"Peter told me," Lily thought adamantly.

The hat chuckled in response. "And you trusted him? I see a desire for revenge here – that's certainly not suitable for Hufflepuff. More like a Slytherin, really. But there's more to it than revenge, I think. A thirst to prove yourself you've aplenty, and a great wish to stand up for the weak. No, there's only one place for you. Hufflepuff, indeed." The hat laughed again. "You've been fooled by whoever told you that. GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily knew that only the last word was audible to the rest of the crowd, and she pulled the hat off her head, stumbling toward the Gryffindor table. She caught sight of Black, grinning wildly, and she passed him a stony glance back. She still didn't trust him. She looked up at the slowly dwindling line and hoped that Potter – whatever his first name was – would get sorted somewhere nasty, like the cold looking Slytherin table.

Lily didn't pay attention to anything in particular while the line got shorter and shorter. She was plotting all the horrible things that should happen to Potter – he could be stuck in a dorm room with Snape, he could be bereft of friends and even friendly acquaintances and left to spend his time alone – all the things that she was deathly afraid of herself but wouldn't admit. Soon enough, Remus was up for sorting. Even if Black had been sorted here (and he wasn't much better than his messily headed friend) she hoped Remus would – as he had told her he wanted to. In any case, he was the closest to a friend that she had at the moment and she wasn't about to give that up flippantly. The sorting hat spent a long time on his head, considering. It seemed to be about to shout a house several times, but it would always stop. Finally, with a huge roar over the now silent audience, the hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily smiled.

He came and sit next to her, looking about to faint. "It tried to sort me into Slytherin. I had to stop it," he commented.

"What's so bad about Slytherin, anyway?" asked Lily. Across the table and down a few seats, Black's eyes bulged out of his head. Remus was taken aback as well.

"How can you not know? The sorting hat said as much; cunning and ambitious is the nice way to put it. Really they're conniving and malicious."

Lily blinked. "Surely not all of them are that bad…"

Remus shook his head in response. "Every last one. It's a defining trait from what I hear. Trust me, Slytherins are about as bad as they come. My dad says there hasn't been a single dark lord didn't come from Slytherin."

Sirius Black winced. "Well, there've only been a few of them…"

Remus just laughed. "Doesn't take many to start a trend."

"Pettigrew, Peter," was called, and the mousy Peter from the train stepped towards the stool. Without deliberating nearly as long as it had for Remus, the hat came to a decision and shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Potter, James."

And the boy with messy hair walked confidently towards the stool. Sirius was watching intently and whispering something under his breath, something that sounded distinctly like "Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor." Once again Lily felt her stomach twist in hatred and she wished him good luck in Slytherin.

The moment when James Potter lifted the sorting hat to his head was a long one, but even before he set the hat upon his head, it was crying "GRYFFINDOR!" to the entire crowd. Sirius laughed in relief. Lily felt her stomach drop. She was supposed to be friends with… this?

James smiled winningly in her direction as he ambled to a seat next to Sirius. "Guess I'm not so bad after all, huh, Evans? Made Gryffindor snuff – bold, daring, and chivalrous." He laughed to Lily's glare and turned to Sirius.

The hat thought she was similar to James Potter, Lily thought with a sinking feeling in her gut. What did that say about her? James looked away from Sirius for a moment and, seeing her staring at him, smiled cheekily.

This was going to be long, long seven years.


End file.
